Beastmaster of the Ages

”Just a bit of strength?” Tianming asked.

”Yeah, just a little,” Zi Zhen said as she handed him a spatial ring. ”When are you going to take over God Domains Two, Three, and Four?”

”When I conquer the Midsky Tristars and know if I can find Saturatia-49, I’ll decide whether to prioritize that or the Ancient Oldgod Domain,” Tianming said.

”You should go to Saturatia-49 first to rescue your friend. We can take our time harvesting the resources in the Ancient Oldgod Domain.”

”That was my thought, too.”

”Still, are you confident in dealing with the Midsky Tristars?” Zi Zhen asked, concerned.

”I’m not sure, but it’s a gamble! I can’t leave them untouched for too long, either, lest some cosmic gods from elite worlds come to interfere. I made some new breakthroughs after coming back here, and I should get to work once I return,” Tianming said.

”Alright.” Zi Zhen had wanted to leave right after handing over the overflow fragments, but she thought about it and shyly looked down and said, ”Spend some time with me?”

”I was just about to ask the same,” Tianming said with a gentle smile.

”Okay!” The two of them flew to a distant asteroid and Tianming pulled her into a hug. Even though she was still a bit taller, she was quite slim and it didn’t feel too off. Just like that, Tianming hugged her for a few days and nights without saying a word, merely feeling each others’ heartbeats.

”Why aren’t you doing anything?” she solemnly asked.

”Can I?” His hands immediately started moving.

”No!” She pouted. ”Every inch of you smells of Jiguang. I don’t want it.”

”Then why’d you even bring it up?”

”I guess I just like men more when they’re taller than me. You should work harder,” she said with a wry smile.

”Oh?” Tianming gave her nose a pinch. ”Just you wait! Sooner or later, I’ll become eighty meters tall! Let’s see how you like that!”

***

After some time, Tianming went back to the Suishenean that was parked within the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb.

”Emperor.” Long Qian and the others were there to welcome him. She was one of the people who had witnessed Tianming shoot up in height and almost catch up to a fifth-level overflower like her.

”Nice! This one would make a good fit as well!” Bai Ye said.

”Shut up,” Tianming said before clearing his throat. ”Long Qian, tell the crew that we’re marching out!”

”Marching out? Emperor, who are we marching against? The cosmic gods of Starmoon Haven won’t come out to face us.” She knew that Tianming had become confident enough to engage cosmic gods in actual battle.

”Then we’ll use the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb,” he said. The strongest maniverse-class ship would have no issue against the normal fortuna-class Starmoon Guard Formation. As long as Tianming was powerful enough, the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb wouldn’t let him down.

It’ll be rather tough to reach the third level of the Overflow stage that soon. If I want to gain an edge, it’s really important for me to expand my omnisentient threads to Wargod and Wondersky Havens. To do that, I need to do something about Starmoon Haven first! Tianming’s forty-meter-tall body was almost half as tall as cosmic gods. While he would still look like an infant trying to fight adults, it was better than being an ant.

”Alright!” Long Qian went to make preparations. Eventually, the 1.5 billion flameyellow descendants who had been resting at the Sun boarded the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb once more. Having seen their actual home, their faith had been strengthened. Even as they marched out toward the next battle, they weren’t bothered in the least about being squished together in the cramped ship. They would be fighting at the side of their ruler.

After all, they knew that they were the lucky ones who had managed to be rescued, and there were still more than eight billion of their kin among the Midsky Tristars still waiting their rescue. All 1.5 billion of them entered the ship like an orderly school of fish.

Tianming watched them with a proud look. Taking a deep breath, he said, ”If we can take over the Midsky Tristars, we’ll be able to save close to ten billion of our kin. Though, I’m afraid most of you won’t be able to help me out for what comes after that. This is our final battle. If we succeed, all of you may return to our world and build a new home that belongs to us!”

”Yeah!” they cheered, eyes bloodshot with passion.

”Big Brother Tianming, we still want to follow you wherever you go!” the Young Long Chen said, having recently become a first-level overflower.

”We’ll see!” Tianming nodded.

Once the crew was assembled, he bade Wudi and Qingyu goodbye. They’d been absorbing cosmic god blood as of late and using the galaxy-class orders that Tianming had brought home to cultivate, breaking through at a rapid rate. Qingyu was a second-level overflower, while Wudi had finally reached the super zenith. Even so, Tianming’s combat capabilities far outstripped theirs once more.

Tianming also took Moran with him since they would be facing off against wonderians. Moran sat on his shoulder, shaking her legs and holding tight to Tianming’s hair. She had reached the Foundation stage, but the time when she finally grew to match Tianming in scale at the Overflow stage was still far off.

Tianming said to her, ”Just keep doing your best.”

Moran wasn’t in a rush, of course. The wonderians dominated the Upper Star Ruin, so Tianming would always need her around and she wasn’t concerned about being left behind.

Once more, the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb departed from the Sun. This time around, they had reorganized their forces and were marching into battle.

Tianming looked at the dark reaches of space and said, ”Onward!”